that rehnquist was and that the chief is is really the head of the entire administrative office of the u.s. courts. he sort of runs the entire court system, and that's a whole part of his administrative responsibility that the other eight justices don't have. but that's what a chief justice does. >> host: and we'll talk a little bit about how he got into that position, but let's go back to the beginning. wisconsin, a suburb of milwaukee, he was born october 1st, right around this time, 1924. his father was a paper salesman, and his mother was a homemaker, but she was the dominant force in the household, right? tell me a little bit about, um, mrs. rehnquist and a little bit about how she got him to change his middle name which was what changed the course of his life. >> guest: well, she was very superstitious in terms of the middle name. they named him william donald rehnquist when he was born on october 1st in 1924. and, um, his mother, though, believed, um, she was really a very, very fascinating woman. she spoke five languages in addition to english. don't ask me what those fife were, th